JACK McConnell was accused yesterday of being "terrified" of council tax reform, after telling MSPs there was no need for a revaluation of Scotland's homes - despite it being his Labour party's preference.
The SNP said the first ministerwas trying to run away from the consequences of reforming the levy, rather than replacing it with a local income tax.
Labour wants to add extra bands at either end of the A to H scale, spreading the cost of council services more evenly across households.
Mr McConnell was challenged by Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP leader at Holyrood, on Thursday over whether this would mean an automatic revaluation to determine which houses fell into which bands.
The last revaluation was in 1991, and there are fears that the next calculations will see bills rocket after a decade of rampant house price inf lation.
A revaluation resulted in higher bills for many homes in Wales last month, and another is planned for England in 2007.
However Mr McConnell said Scotland was different: "There are no plans for a property revaluation for the council tax orany other purpose in Scotland at this time."
However, it emerged yesterday that Labour's recent submission to the Scottish commission studying council tax reform had called for regular revaluations.
"Because revaluation has tended to be slow and not follow rising property prices quickly enough there is a strong argument for the more regular revaluation by local authorities. Labour would support such a move, " it said.
Ms Sturgeon said this statement showed that Mr McConnell's support for more bands without planning for a revaluation made no sense.
"I think he is terrified to admit the logical conclusion of his party's own policy, as set out in the submission. That's why we support getting rid of council tax and creating a fairer system based on personal income."
A Labour spokesman insisted that there was no contradiction between Mr McConnell's remarks and the party's submission. "Just because you are in favour of something does not mean you are about to do it.
There are no plans for revaluation, " he added.
No reform on the issue is expected until after the Holyrood elections in 2007.
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